Kasich’s keynote speech was his first appearance in Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald’s backyard since signing off on a $2.4 billion construction budget, $135 million of which will benefit northeast Ohio.
Kasich never mentioned FitzGerald by name. But the governor talked up his partnership with Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson in moving to fix the city’s public schools, and how his move to issue bonds for the Ohio Turnpike has paid off.
“We can use the revenues and tolls from the turnpike to pay off those bonds, and it has generated another billion dollars in infrastructure for people around the state, and we anticipate an additional $2 billion that will flow our way," said Kasich.
"And it wasn’t long ago, that we’ve been able to move projects up that looked as though they could not be completed like not get done for 20 years.”
Blue-friendly northern Ohio will likely see a good portion of those dollars.
Hours ahead of Kasich’s speech, Democrats gave FitzGerald credit for overseeing construction of the new convention center where the governor appeared. They said it was completed millions of dollars under budget and created thousands of construction jobs.